Fracking company warns over access

A leading fracking company has warned that the industry will grind to a halt in Britain unless the Government allows it to drill under people's property without permission.

Cuadrilla chief executive Francis Egan told The Times it would be impractical to negotiate access with every landowner where it wants to use the controversial pressure mining technique.

David Cameron and George Osborne have hailed the potential benefits of fracking to the UK, and last week the coalition launched a consultation on whether to make the legal change the firms are seeking.

However, the proposals are encountering strong resistance from environmental groups and residents in areas where there are large shale gas reserves.

Mr Egan said the present requirement to seek landowners' permission was "ridiculous".

Asked what would happen if the attempt to change the law failed, he said: "I don't think the industry will go ahead in the UK."

He added: "If you say to Crossrail (the rail link being built under London) 'Yes, you can go ahead but you will have to negotiate with every single householder on the route', they would not even look at it. Same thing here."

Mr Egan insisted landowners would be unaffected by drilling taking place a mile below their property.

He admitted that companies still had more work to do to win over sceptics - but argued that exploratory wells needed to be drilled to show the technique is safe.

"It's a Catch-22. You have to demonstrate they're safe before you can get public opinion to support you," he said.

"Ministers are bending over backwards and cutting corners to satisfy the fracking lobby's every wish," he said. "Paying off the fracking industry's ransom note in this way will come at a huge political cost for coalition MPs who are backing an increasingly unpopular industry offering no guarantees of ever being able to deliver."

Comments

""It's a Catch-22. You have to demonstrate they're safe before you can get public opinion to support you," he said."........
.........What's catch-22 about that?

""It's a Catch-22. You have to demonstrate they're safe before you can get public opinion to support you," he said."........
.........What's catch-22 about that?Dilligaf2010

""It's a Catch-22. You have to demonstrate they're safe before you can get public opinion to support you," he said."........
.........What's catch-22 about that?

Score: -2

Pendlesider
10:00pm Sat 31 May 14

how can something that has not yet taken off in the UK grind to a halt?
.
Thousands of wells have already been drilled in the U.S.A. alone, some with devastating consequences, so why pretend exploratory wells are needed here in the UK to show the technique is safe?
.
QUOTE "companies still had more work to do to win over sceptics - but argued that exploratory wells [are] needed to be drilled to show the technique is safe" UNQUOTE
.
If I'm not mistaken, wasn't it an exploratory well that caused earthquakes in the Fylde area in May 2011?
.
In January this year, a Lords committee found ministers had rushed through pro-fracking planning reforms without proper scrutiny, despite overwhelming opposition. Under the reforms, which came into force as secondary legislation in January, homeowners would no longer be individually notified of a planning application by an energy company such as Quadrilla to seek to drill or frack beneath their home.
.
Ministers failed to disclose to Parliament the scale of opposition to the changes in the public consultation, which saw seven responses in favour and 155 against.
.
read my paragraph above again, that's right, 155 against vs 7 for. Yet it was pushed through to the Lords as secondary legislation before allowing a proper opportunity for Parliamentary scrutiny.
And you think you live in a 'democracy'? desperate times....

how can something that has not yet taken off in the UK grind to a halt?
.
Thousands of wells have already been drilled in the U.S.A. alone, some with devastating consequences, so why pretend exploratory wells are needed here in the UK to show the technique is safe?
.
QUOTE "companies still had more work to do to win over sceptics - but argued that exploratory wells [are] needed to be drilled to show the technique is safe" UNQUOTE
.
If I'm not mistaken, wasn't it an exploratory well that caused earthquakes in the Fylde area in May 2011?
.
In January this year, a Lords committee found ministers had rushed through pro-fracking planning reforms without proper scrutiny, despite overwhelming opposition. Under the reforms, which came into force as secondary legislation in January, homeowners would no longer be individually notified of a planning application by an energy company such as Quadrilla to seek to drill or frack beneath their home.
.
Ministers failed to disclose to Parliament the scale of opposition to the changes in the public consultation, which saw seven responses in favour and 155 against.
.
read my paragraph above again, that's right, 155 against vs 7 for. Yet it was pushed through to the Lords as secondary legislation before allowing a proper opportunity for Parliamentary scrutiny.
And you think you live in a 'democracy'? desperate times....Pendlesider

how can something that has not yet taken off in the UK grind to a halt?
.
Thousands of wells have already been drilled in the U.S.A. alone, some with devastating consequences, so why pretend exploratory wells are needed here in the UK to show the technique is safe?
.
QUOTE "companies still had more work to do to win over sceptics - but argued that exploratory wells [are] needed to be drilled to show the technique is safe" UNQUOTE
.
If I'm not mistaken, wasn't it an exploratory well that caused earthquakes in the Fylde area in May 2011?
.
In January this year, a Lords committee found ministers had rushed through pro-fracking planning reforms without proper scrutiny, despite overwhelming opposition. Under the reforms, which came into force as secondary legislation in January, homeowners would no longer be individually notified of a planning application by an energy company such as Quadrilla to seek to drill or frack beneath their home.
.
Ministers failed to disclose to Parliament the scale of opposition to the changes in the public consultation, which saw seven responses in favour and 155 against.
.
read my paragraph above again, that's right, 155 against vs 7 for. Yet it was pushed through to the Lords as secondary legislation before allowing a proper opportunity for Parliamentary scrutiny.
And you think you live in a 'democracy'? desperate times....

Score: 3

Dan Soton
1:53pm Mon 2 Jun 14

Excuse me while I bang my own drum..

Every opportunity since July 2013 I've been banging on about offshore GEOTHERMAL Fracking ( unheard of.. by me anyway) and now the possibility is a step closer..

Excuse me while I bang my own drum..
Every opportunity since July 2013 I've been banging on about offshore GEOTHERMAL Fracking ( unheard of.. by me anyway) and now the possibility is a step closer..
SHALE GAS PIONEER PLANS WORLD'S FIRST OFFSHORE WELLS IN IRISH SEA.
By Ben King.
Economics reporter, BBC News.
13 February 2014 Last updated at 06:40 .
The founder of shale gas firm Cuadrilla is planning a venture to frack in the Irish Sea, the BBC has learned.
Dr Chris Cornelius believes there are large volumes of offshore shale gas that could be extracted.
If successful, it would be the first such project in the world.
THE BRITISH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY HAS ESTIMATED THAT THE UK'S TOTAL OFFSHORE SHALE GAS RESOURCES COULD BE BETWEEN FIVE AND 10 TIMES THE SIZE OF THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE ONSHORE
-
http://www.bbc.co.uk
/news/business-26157
228
A few ( from the many) of my posts advocating Offshore GEOTHERMAL Fracking
-
http://www.dailyecho
.co.uk/news/10585288
.Fracking_dangers_ar
e_simply____myth_ped
dling____says_MP/
-
http://www.dailyecho
.co.uk/news/10562020
.Thousands_of_fracki
ng_wells_to_be_dug_a
cross_Hampshire__war
ns_MP/
-
http://www.dailyecho
.co.uk/news/10578358
.Council__should_hav
e_policy_on_fracking
/
,,Dan Soton

Excuse me while I bang my own drum..

Every opportunity since July 2013 I've been banging on about offshore GEOTHERMAL Fracking ( unheard of.. by me anyway) and now the possibility is a step closer..

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